Travel Guide To Bruges

Bruges is a city where the gruesome and the sensual lie side by side. If there is such a thing as a morbid bon viveur, then Bruges is its spiritual home. Primitive paintings of the martyrdoms of saints can be viewed in close proximity to shop-window displays of milk-chocolate breasts. Steeped in several centuries of tragic history, Bruges attracts visitors eager to drink in the city's eclectic past and experience a perfectly conserved medieval city.

Where to eat out in Bruges

DE LOTTEBURG

Goezeputstraat 43 (00 32 50 33 7535). Fresh fish and seafood are delivered to this small restaurant twice a day. Dishes such as tartar of lobster with grey shrimps and truffle oil and grilled sole with wild mushrooms, combined with a convivial atmosphere, explain why French premier Lionel Jospin chose to spend New Year 2001 here.

Advertisement

DE ZILVEREN PAUW

Ziverstraat 41 (00 32 50 33 5566). The 'Silver Peacock' dates back to 1261 though the interior is Art Nouveau. It's a fittingly splendid setting for the creations of Patrick Devos, one of the great names of Belgian cooking. Try jelly of seafood perfumed with soft garlic or roll of duck with rhubarb, spices and honey.

Read next

A insider's guide to Costa Smeralda, Sardinia: Italy's jet-set island

DEN DYVER

5 Dyver (0032 50 33 6069). Polished, reliable and with an understated finesse, the food is the gastronomic equivalent of a Mercedes. A quintessentially Flemish experience not to be missed, where the beer is taken as seriously as the food.

Advertisement

'T BRUGS BEERTJE

Kemelstraat 5. This neat candlelit side street café could also serve as an academy of Belgian Beer. Run by a man who lectures on brewing, it offers over 200 native brews. A few doors down, at Kemelstraat 9, 't Dreupelhuisje is a temple to the other Belgian liquid obsession, Genever gin.

STAMINEE DE GARRE

De Garre 1. The drinks menu, which features more than 100 varieties of beer but only two types of wine (red and white), reveals a Belgian view of the relative importance of things.

CAFE VLISSINGHE,

Advertisement

Blekerstraat 2. Situated in the Sint Anna quarter and dating from 1515, this is one of Bruges' oldest cafés, with walls tanned by the pipe-smoking regulars of yesteryear. A photo album offers a glimpse of life at the end of the 19th century, though nothing much else seems to have changed since then.

Things to do in Bruges

Absorbing the medieval atmosphere is essential when visiting Bruges. Take a horse-drawn cab on a guided tour of the city and enjoy the quiet cobbled streets by taking a wander away from the crowds. THE GROENINGE MUSEUM (0032 50 448711). This museum houses artworks spanning several centuries and was the site where Jan Van Eyke established his studio in 1430. Opening hours: 9.30am - 5pm, Monday to Sunday, between 1st October and 31st March; closed Mondays. THE GRUUTHUSE MUSEUM (0032 50 448711). This 15th-century mansion, once owned by Lodewijk Van Gruuthose, is an excellent place to get a sense of the kind of life the burghers led in the 1300s.

How to get to Bruges

BY TRAIN Eurostar (08432 186 186; www.eurostar.com) runs up to 10 daily services from London St Pancras to Brussels where passengers can connect to trains to Bruges.